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#1 If true [which I find absolutely incredulous], then all we can assume is a campaign fund raiser was more important that the lives of 4 Americans, or perhaps the lives of the everyone in the Benghazi mission.

Was the VP consulted? Was anyone in the administration consulted? If not, why not?

If true, then who gave the order to "stand-down" that was reportedly radioed from the Chief of Station in Tripoli to the besieged station in Benghazi? Who gave the "stand-down" order to the Commander, AFRICOM, who has regional responsibility for the execution of Non-Combatant Evacuation (NEO) operations [rescue of American citizens] ?

The key to this disaster now appears to rest with the testimony of General Ham. I will never accept the "there was no time to execute military action" story. The other key lies with the Chief of Station's senior representative and decision maker in Benghazi [one of the twenty some odd mystery people who cannot be found].

#4 Well now we know how Obama handles that 3AM emergency phone call - take the receiver off the hook, cover it with a pillow, roll back over and go back to sleep.

Funny how they can't determine who gave that stand down orders. It had to be signed right? Or are U.S. Military and Diplomatic commands in the habit of blindly following unsigned and unauthenticated orders?

#5 If I were General Ham, I would have insisted upon seeing that one in writing with copies furnished my legal section. An unclassified, redacted copy would be stored away with personal papers in a safe deposit box.

#6 B, they can't find General Mireau?Paths of Glory stuff here. Obtuse reference to the responsibilities of command, its failures, the blame game and who actually pays the price for political intrigues. Human behavior seldom changes.

#7 I concur P2k, but these are not "riddles wrapped in mysteries, inside enigmas". These hearings lack serious investigatory rigor. Ask the right questions and the answers and responsible parties will emerge. If congress elects to do otherwise, then they too become part of the problem. Forgive me, I've just stated the obvious.

The unilateral decision to strike a sovereign country can only be made by the Commander-in-Chief. Think about it. President Obama delegated that decision to the Secretary of Defense. A more cavalier attitude for the operational chain of command hasnt been witnessed since the Woodrow Wilson administration. One can only conclude Mr. Obama is only willing to fulfill his official duties when theres a potential for personal gain.I know NewsFlash...right?

As [President Obama] told a Denver reporter in October: I gave three very clear directives. Number one, make sure we are securing our personnel and that we are doing whatever we need to. Number two, we are going to investigate exactly what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again. Number three, find out who did this so we can bring them to justice.

Possible explanations:

1. The attack on the Benghazi consulate was considered a minor incident at the time, similar to the embassy attack on Egypt.

2. The attack on the Benghazi consulate was considered a minor incident based on the paucity of information.

3. The attack on the Benghazi consulate was considered a minor incident because, for whatever reason or a multitude of reasons, that was how the incident was presented to the President and the White House staff.

4. The President's management style is/was to leave such things to his subject-matter experts, who then proceeded to a series of decisions that led to the present state of affairs.

#16 Don't hold your breath; the R's are tossing only slightly faster softball questions at all these various 'hearings/confirmations.' The only balls in the entire Capital building are down in the raquetball courts.